There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. John 12:2-3

As we continue to study the Gospel of John, we come to the above-mentioned passage which tells us of people doing things for Jesus. There were those who opened their home to host Him; some cooked for Him while others sat with Him and learned from Him, and one of them anointed His feet to prepare Him for His burial. There are many things which we can learn to do for the Lord Jesus. Let us learn them today.

Simon, the leper, opened his house to host Jesus when He was there in Bethany (cf. Matthew 26:6 & Mark 14:3). The first lesson to be learnt from this passage is the willingness to let our homes be used by the Lord Jesus and His people.

There are many examples in the Bible where Christians opened their homes for God and His people. In the Old Testament, there was a woman from the town of Shunem who built a room for Elisha to rest whenever he passed by (2 Kings 4:8- 11). In the New Testament, there was Martha who opened her house to receive Jesus (Luke 10:38).

When you grow up and have a house of your own, use it to do something for the Lord Jesus and His people. You can open your house for fellowship meetings. For example, our Gethsemane Seniors’ Ministry meets in different homes on Thursday mornings, and the Ladies' Prayer Group meets once a month. Are you willing to open the house that God blesses you with for His use and glory? You should!

Secondly, we read, “There they made him a supper; and Martha served.” This tells us that there were a group of brethren who busied themselves in the kitchen to ensure that there would be food for Jesus, and those who were with Him in the house. In Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church, we are blessed with many brethren who have good culinary skills. Every Lord’s Day after the worship service, there will be a refreshment team serving us and visitors with delicious food, right? These food come from those who worked very hard. They woke up early to cook, and carry it all the way from their homes to the church.

Recently, some new members of our church were blessed with a scrumptious lunch cooked by the Care Ministry brethren. Therefore, if God bless you with good culinary skills when you grow up, use it to do something for the Lord Jesus and His people! Next week, we will visit this passage again, and learn other things which we can do for the Lord Jesus and His people.